The  Song 
of  Life  & 


UC-NRLF 


SB   E&S 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


GIFT  OF 
HORACE  W.  CARPENTIER 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE. 


THE   SONG  OF  LIFE 


CHARLES  JOHNSTON. 


PUBLISHED    BY 

THE      AUTHOR, 

FLUSHING, 

N.    Y. 


1901 


Copyright,   1901 
BY  CHARLES  JOHNSTON 

Flushing,  N.  Y. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE 

I.  THE  MYSTERY  TEACHING      -         -     n 
II.  DRAMA  OF  THE  MYSTERIES  45 

(BRIHAD  ARANYAKA  UPANISHAD,  iv,  3-4.) 


M8Q86Q4 


The  Gospels  are  the  perfect  flower  of 
Palestine.  The  Upanishads  are  the 
chief est  treasure  of  most  ancient  India. 
The  heart  of  the  Galilean  message  is 
hidden  in  the  Parables  of  the  Kingdom. 
The  deepest  secret  of  Mother  India  is 
embodied  in  those  dramatic  fragments 
and  still  perfect  dramas  which  are  the 
strongest  part  of  the  Upanishads.  Of 
these  Mystery  plays  there  are  many. 
The  contest  of  Brahma  and  the  Devas, 
king  Death  and  Nachiketas,  the  Disciples 
of  Pippalada,  Bhrigu  and  Varuna,  the 
Father  of  Shvetaketu,  Uddalaka  and  the 
King,  the  Answers  of  Yajnavalkya, 
Indra  and  the  Demon,  and,  greatest  of 
all,  the  Dialogue  of  Janaka  and  the  Sage, 
translated  here.  A  modern  paraphrase 
of  the  Teaching  goes  before  it,  yet,  in  all 
understanding  of  the  Mystery,  the  Soul 
must  be  its  own  light. 


FIRST  PART  : 
THE  MYSTERY  TEACHING. 


THE  MYSTERY  TEACHING. 

The  secret  of  Life  is  whispered  for  ever 
in  our  ears,  summoning  us  to  enter  the 
hall  of  everlasting  youth,  bidding  us  un- 
bar the  door  of  our  present  divinity, 
pointing  the  path  of  unconquerable 
power,  revealing  to  mortal  man  the  secret 
of  man  the  immortal.  We  are  challenged 
to  make  true  for  ourselves  the  dreams  we 
have  dreamed  of  God. 

There  is  a  newborn  hope  in  the  mess- 
age of  the  unseen  as  it  comes  to  us.  We 
have  passed  out  of  the  shadow  into  the 
sunshine.  The  clouds  that  hung  so  long 
about  the  door  have  lifted.  The  burden 
of  the  world's  anguish  has  melted  away. 
Since  the  Cross  first  threw  its  black 
shadow  along  the  earth,  the  promise  of 
immortal  life  was  held  forth  to  those  only 
who  turned  back  in  bitterness  from  the 
world,  whose  garb  was  sackcloth,  their 
best  hope  despair.  Their  master  was  the 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  12 

Man  of  Sorrows.  Their  password  was 
Renunciation.  But  we  have  left  behind 
us  the  old  evangel  of  pain.  Our  new 
watchword  is  Victory.  Our  genius  is 
the  lord  of  Joy.  We  are  to  renounce  no 
longer  but  to  conquer:  to  overcome  the 
world  not  by  flight  but  by  possession.  No 
longer  exiles  but  victors  shall  knock  at 
the  immortal  doors. 

The  genius  of  our  age  has  drawn  very 
near  to  the  secret.  We  have  merged  all 
ideals  in  one:  to  conquer,  to  be  strong. 
Power  and  valor  are  our  divinities.  We 
no  longer  worship  wealth  but  the  will 
that  wins  it.  Our  one  goal  is  the  sense 
of  success,  and  we  see  nothing  but  the 
goal.  Even  death  we  have  almost  for- 
gotten, transforming  the  old  king  of  ter- 
rors into  a  gentle  and  not  unwelcome 
shadow.  Nothing  is  remembered  but 
the  lust  of  strength.  One  step  forward 
will  change  it  to  the  lust  of  immortality. 

For  a  little  experience  of  life  is  enough 


13  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

to  teach  us  that  in  sensual  success  we 
miss  our  ideal.  The  sense  of  power  slips 
past  us  into  our  works,  leaving  us  poor 
and  empty-handed.  When  in  the  very 
glow  of  victory  we  see  the  tinsel  glitter 
fade,  we  are  at  the  threshold  of  the  un- 
seen world;  we  are  ready  to  understand 
that  we  were  better  than  our  goal,  that 
we  were  born  to  more  lasting  triumphs. 
The  time  has  come  for  us  to  claim  our  di- 
vinity. In  the  midst  of  our  success,  the 
finger  of  the  hidden  immortal  touches  us, 
and  we  are  called  forth  from  the  arena  of 
the  world,  to  hear  the  whispered  secret 
of  our  inheritance.  The  glamor  of  sen- 
sual life  has  fallen  from  our  eyes,  and  we 
are  ready  to  lift  the  black  veil  of  death. 

When  we  draw  back  from  life  and  sen- 
sual success,  as  something  very  good,  yet 
not  good  enough  to  satisfy  our  heart's 
desire,  we  come  to  a  lull  of  quiet  loneli- 
ness, a  hush  of  silence  in  the  dark.  In 
that  solitude  and  gloom  we  may  catch  the 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  14 

vision  of  the  truer  way,  and  surprise  the 
world-old  secret  of  human  life.  Hitherto 
we  have  lived  believing  ourselves  closed 
in  by  the  visible  world,  buried  in  the  heart 
of  sensual  life,  and  held  there  firmly  by 
our  bodily  fate.  But  we  begin  to  divine 
that  we  are  really  set  firm  in  the  immortal 
power,  leaning  forward  into  sensual  life 
from  the  life  above  it,  never  losing  our 
firm  foundation  there.  In  the  midst  of 
death  we  are  in  life. 

Thus  our  destinies  are  passed  between 
two  worlds:  the  world  of  desire  and 
death,  and  the  world  of  will  and  immor- 
tality. When  we  learn  to  live  from  the 
will  as  we  tried  to  live  from  sensual  de- 
sires, we  shall  be  already  immortal,  and 
enter  living  an  immortal  world.  There- 
fore our  worship  of  will  brings  us  near 
to  the  portal  of  peace. 

This  is  the  secret  that  shadows  itself 
forth  in  the  stillness  and  darkness.  Soon 
will  follow  clearer  vision  that  we  have 


15  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

drawn  our  life  from  the  world  of  the  im- 
mortal, day  by  day  since  the  beginning. 
But  this  simplest  of  all  secrets  was  hid- 
den from  us  by  the  seething  of  our  de- 
sires. We  and  all  creatures  enter  every 
day  into  the  immortal  world,  though  we 
know  it  not.  Nor  shall  we  remember, 
until  the  hush  of  stillness  comes  upon 
us  when  we  draw  back  victorious  yet  dis- 
appointed from  our  battle  with  the  ma- 
terial world.  Not  till  we  have  renounced 
can  our  eyes  open. 

Every  day  we  wage  our  warfare  with 
the  world.  Every  night,  when  the  throb 
1  of  desire  and  the  whirl  of  the  senses 
grow  still,  we  sink,  as  we  call  it,  to  sleep. 
We  might  more  truly  say  we  arise  to  our 
awakening.  The  shadows  of  our  desires 
hover  awhile  around  us,  haunting  us  as 
we  linger  in  the  borderland  of  dreams.  As 
our  desires  were,  so  are  our  dreams: 
things  fair  or  hideous,  grim  or  radiant 
with  lovely  light.  But  dreams  soon  fade 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  16 

and  desires  cease,  and  we  enter  into  our 
rest.  We  pass  from  the  world  of  the 
senses  to  the  realm  of  immortal  will.  We 
enter  in  through  the  golden  portal,  far 
better  than  the  fabled  gates  of  ivory  or 
horn,  and  for  awhile  we  are  immortal  in 
power,  immortal  in  peace.  For  without 
power  there  is  no  peace. 

Beyond  the  land  of  dreams  and  the 
shadows  of  desire  stands  the  gate  of 
peace.  All  men  enter  there  and  all  crea- 
tures. Were  it  not  so,  all  men  must 
go  mad.  And  within  that  portal,  all  are 
equal.  All  alike  awake  to  their  immortal 
selves.  Sinner  and  saint  have  left  their 
difference  at  the  threshold.  They  enter 
in  together  as  pure  living  souls.  Weak 
and  strong  are  one  there,  high  and  lowly 
are  one.  The  immortal  sunshine,  the 
living  water,  are  for  all.  For  great  Life 
has  wrapt  us  around  with  beneficence,  so 
that  even  now  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the 
everlasting. 


1 7  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

Thus  we  all  enter  the  power  beyond  the 
veil  of  dreams.  We  all  draw  our  lives 
alike  from  the  sea  of  life.  In  the  radi- 
ance we  are  all  one,  wrapt  in  the  terrible 
flame  of  Life.  Yet  we  forget.  We 
come  back  again  shivering  across  the 
threshold,  and  hasten  to  wrap  our 
pure  divinity  in  a  mist  of  dreams.  The 
saint  once  more  takes  his  white  garment ; 
the  sinner,  his  red  vesture  of  desire.  The 
weak  is  weak  again,  and  the  strong  ex- 
ults. Their  dreams  are  once  more  real 
to  them;  and  these  dreams  are  our 
mortal  world. 

We  return  to  the  world  of  daylight  to 
live  for  a  few  more  hours  in  the  strength 
brought  back  from  the  immortal  world. 
Our  earthen  lamps  are  replenished  for 
another  watch.  We  strain  and  stagger 
under  the  burden  of  our  dreams,  driven 
by  hope  and  fear,  by  desire  and  hate. 
Fear  is  the  keenest  scourge  of  all ;  mak- 
ing us  cowards,  it  makes  us  also  cruel. 


THE  SONG  OF  LIRE  18 

Thus  we  fall  away  from  our  divinity, 
robbed  of  every  shred  of  memory  by  the 
army  of  shadows  that  meet  us  on  the 
threshold,  with  their  captain,  fear.  Yet 
in  all  our  phantom-world,  there  is  no 
illusion  so  absolute  a  lie  as  fear.  We 
are  the  gods,  the  immortals ;  yet  we  cower 
and  cringe.  We  are  children  of  the  will, 
yet  slaves  of  fear.  Therefore  our  ideal 
of  valor  brings  us  near  the  threshold,  for 
it  bids  us  kill  the  captain  of  the  shadows 
who  bar  our  way.  But  for  a  long  time 
yet,  the  shadow  of  fear  will  lurk  in  the 
haunted  darkness  of  our  human  hearts. 

Another  day  ends,  and  our  tide  ebbs. 
The  storm  of  our  desires  has  worn  us  out, 
and  overcome  with  weariness,  we  sink  to 
rest,  we  rise  to  power.  And  all  our 
prayer  and  aspiration,  all  the  fervor  of 
our  faith  has  no  aim  but  this:  to  reach 
awake  the  sea  of  power  we  bathe  in 
while  asleep.  Therefore  we  close  our 
eyes  in  aspiration,  seeking  once  again  the 


19  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

light  behind  the  veil.  So  great  is  the 
beneficence  of  sleep,  so  mighty  a  benison 
is  ever  near  to  us.  We  enter  perpetually, 
but  we  always  forget.  Our  power  slips 
from  us  as  we  return  through  the  cloud- 
zone  of  dreamland.  Round  every  pillow 
gather  thick  the  terrors  and  pains  of  life, 
not  less  than  its  ambitions  and  its  hopes, 
instantly  invading  us  as  we  come  back  to 
waking. 

Therefore  we  gain  this  clew  to  the  sec- 
ret. The  door  of  our  immortality  is  open 
to  us  day  by  day.  But  we  are  so  ridden 
with  dreams  that  our  immortal  herit- 
age brings  us  no  profit.  Therefore  we 
must  elude  the  army  of  dreams.  We 
must  bring  back  to  the  light  of  day  the 
present  sense  of  our  divinity  which  illum- 
ined us  in  dreamlessness.  A  thing  so 
simple  as  that  is  the  open  door  of  our  sal- 
vation. Our  genius  bids  us  gather  power 
and  conquer  fear.  And  fear  once  mas- 
tered, we  may  begin  to  disband  the  army 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 


of  dreams,  the  ghosts  that  haunt  our  bor- 
derland and  make  us  forget.  The  di- 
minished army  on  the  frontier  is  no 
longer  strong  enough  to  keep  us  from 
smuggling  through  with  us  something  of 
our  dreamless  vision,  some  memory  of 
the  immortal  world.  We  glean  these 
memories  day  by  day,  in  the  silence  of 
the  morning,  in  the  first  hush  of  waking, 
as  we  bring  back  into  every  morning 
something  of  the  freshness  of  everlasting 
youth. 

At  first,  what  we  carry  back  with  us 
will  seem  more  dreamlike  than  dreams. 
Yet  dreams  have  their  power,  as  we 
should  know  whose  whole  lives  are 
guided  by  dreams.  First  a  dream-mem- 
ory only:  a  haunting  shimmer  of  other 
worlds ;  a  secret  freshness  and  gladness, 
coming  we  know  not  whence.  Yet  a 
vision  so  full  of  unearthly  fascination  and 
allurement  that  we  would  follow  it  rather 
than  the  solidest  reality  of  day.  Thus 


2i  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

far  all  the  poets  have  reached.  This  is 
the  secret  of  their  inspiration.  They  are 
haunted  by  the  dreamless  dream;  it 
lingers  in  beauty  over  all  their  works. 
Even  the  faint  memory  of  this  vision  is 
brightness  enough  to  illumine  hearts 
throughout  all  the  world. 

Yet  poets  and  the  devout  do  not  hold 
all  the  secret.  They  are  still  in  the  gray- 
ness  of  the  morning.  We  are  heirs  to 
the  full  glory  of  the  noonday  sun.  With 
fidelity  and  strong  will  we  are  to  make 
real  the  fragments  of  our  remembered 
dream,  imposing  them  upon  the  shadows 
of  the  day,  and  in  their  light  transform- 
ing all  the  world.  The  vision  bursts  from 
their  hearts  in  a  rapture  of  song  and 
prayer,  leaving  their  wills  unenkindled. 
We  are  the  richer,  but  they  are  the  poorer. 
They  should  have  sealed  their  lips,  guard- 
ing the  vision  in  their  hearts  till  they  had 
wrought  it  into  the  fabric  of  their  lives. 

The  highest  valor  is  needed,  to  make 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 


our  vision  real.  We  must  battle  with 
the  whole  army  of  shadows,  the  princes 
and  powers  of  the  air.  We  must  fight 
to  the  death,  if  we  would  inherit  life.  As 
the  fight  is  waged  with  dauntless  courage, 
we  are  ever  more  penetrated  with  the 
poignant  intuition  that  our  waking  world 
is  the  real  dream ;  the  true  waking  is  else- 
where, a  better  reality  than  this.  Thus 
we  begin  to  remember.  Thus  far  the 
sages  go.  Their  message  is  full  of 
whispers  that  our  life  is  a  dream.  But 
they  go  not  far  enough.  They  should 
pass  on  dauntless  to  the  other  shore,  to 
the  real  world  of  their  immortality.  It 
lies  about  us  in  sleep.  It  is  not  far  from 
us  in  our  waking. 

Thus  we  gather  the  fruits  that  drift  to 
us  in  the  dawn  from  the  other  shore. 
There  will  come  a  time  when  that  world 
begins  to  outshine  this.  Then  we  shall 
be  ready  for  undimmed  illumination.  We 
shall  really  launch  our  boat  upon  the 


23  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

waves.  Rapt  from  our  mortal  bodies 
into  paradise,  we  shall  hear  words  not 
lawful  for  mortal  lips  to  utter,  for  the 
only  lips  that  can  tell  of  them  are  already 
immortal.  No  longer  dimly  overshad- 
owed by  the  Soul,  we  enter  through  the 
silence  into  the  very  being  of  the  Soul  it- 
self. We  know  with  awe  that  we  have 
inherited  our  immortality.  We  have 
found  our  treasure.  With  undimmed 
and  boundless  vision,  we  behold  the  shin- 
ing ocean  of  life.  The  radiance  and  the 
realm  are  ours.  We  are  filled  full  of 
infinite  power,  infinite  peace.  No  longer 
heirs  to  the  Power,  we  are  the  Power  it- 
self, in  all  its  immeasurable  divinity :  the 
Power  which  is  from  the  beginning, 
which  shall  outlive  all  ends. 

As  we  enter  into  the  vision,  there  is 
silence:  yet  a  silence  full  of  immortal 
song.  There  is  black  darkness :  yet  dark- 
ness more  radiant  than  any  light.  There 
is  utter  loneliness :  yet  the  loneliness  is 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  24 

full  of  living  souls.  The  souls  of  the 
young-eyed  immortals  are  there,  who 
have  gone  before;  and  the  blind  souls  of 
mortals  who  shall  follow  after.  For  we 
have  entered  the  All :  the  infinite  ocean 
of  life,  whose  foam  and  bubbles  are  the 
world. 

It  is  a  sudden  revelation  of  the  splen- 
dor of  the  living  Soul.  Then  the 
mystic  gloom  closes  upon  us,  and  we  re- 
turn from  our  initiation,  descending 
again  to  the  waking  world.  As  we 
draw  near  to  waking,  we  see  the  whole  of 
our  life  opened  up  before  us  like  a  land- 
scape of  sunshine  and  shadow.  Sky 
meets  earth  behind  us,  where  we  entered. 
The  earth  rises  up  to  the  sky  again  in 
front  of  us,  where  we  shall  depart.  We 
see  spread  out  before  us  the  country  we 
are  to  pass  through,  with  its  hills  and 
valleys  leveled,  as  we  view  it  from  above ; 
yet  the  whole  road  is  clear  to  us,  and  no 
very  formidable  dangers  await  us  or 


25  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

threaten  to  intercept  us,  ere  we  enter  into 
our  rest.  For  that  one  moment  of  our 
return,  nothing  is  hidden  from  us  of  all 
the  future ;  all  things  are  present  to  the 
living  soul. 

For  a  while,  life  sits  very  lightly  on 
us.  Our  barque  of  fate  is  a  painted  ship 
on  a  painted  ocean.  We  know  which  is 
the  real  world.  Then  the  day-dream 
closes  once  more  around  us,  and  we  are 
awake.  Our  vision  fades ;  but  not  the 
memory  of  the  vision.  For  we  have  rid 
our  hearts  of  dream  and  shadow,  so  that 
they  can  hold  the  image  of  the  light.  We 
bring  back  the  memory  of  the  radiance, 
to  guard  it  as  the  hidden  treasure  of  our 
hearts.  From  henceforth,  our  task  is 
this :  with  resolute  valor  to  weave  the 
brightness  of  that  vision  into  all  our 
lives. 

When  we  unseal  the  inner  fountain 
of  knowledge,  its  waters  will  never  more 
cease  to  flow  into  our  hearts,  bringing 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  26 

life  and  light  and  everlasting  youth. 
Many  old  and  well-guarded  secrets  will 
come  to  us  and  reveal  themselves  in  the 
twilight  stillness.  Deathlessness  we 
know  to  be  ours ;  and  gradually  the  mists 
begin  to  lift  from  the  infinite  army  of 
years  we  have  lived,  from  the  endless  days 
that  are  to  come.  By  entering  the  Soul, 
we  have  lifted  ourselves  above  the  nar- 
row walls  of  this  one  life,  and  it  no  more 
tyrannises  over  us  with  loud  insistance 
as  before.  Fragments  of  long-forgot- 
ten days  drift  back  to  us,  with  names  and 
scenes  of  other  lands  left  long  ago,  when 
we  passed  away  from  them  through  the 
gates  of  death. 

They  come  very  near  to  us,  these 
memories  of  dead  years ;  closer  and  more 
vivid  than  scenes  of  yesterday.  We  find 
old  faces  of  new  friends,  very  familiar 
kindred  under  names  and  forms  that  our 
common  past  had  buried,  yet  never  so 
deep  but  that  they  rise  again.  This 


27  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

one  life  of  our  mortality  takes  its  place 
in  the  undivided  Life,  ranged  with  the 
days  that  are  vanished  yet  still  here,  with 
the  days  that  are  not,  yet  already  are. 
The  tangled  skein  of  fate  begins  to  un- 
ravel, and  we  see  more  clearly  where 
and  why  we  failed.  The  sins  and  sor- 
rows of  our  life  take  their  true  color,  in 
the  awful  light  of  the  all-seeing  Soul. 

One  thing  we  learn  that  unveils  many 
mysteries,  and  shows  us  the  seed  of  all 
human  pain :  we  lived  hitherto,  and  all 
who  have  not  passed  through  the  dark- 
ness still  live,  under  the  despotism  of  a 
tyrant,  a  false  and  demoniac  self  whom 
they  take  to  be  themselves.  Possession 
by  devils  is  no  myth.  You  can  see  them 
recording  themselves  in  human  faces, 
everywhere  throughout  the  world.  Every 
self  that  believes  itself  separate  is  a 
devil,  haunted  by  a  curse  of  loneliness, 
and  living  only  to  flee  from  its  pursuing 
doom.  The  horror  of  solitude  brings 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  28 

the  lust  of  sensation,  and  desire  of  sensa- 
tion dominates  all  human  life.  It  domin- 
ates even  death,  for  death  is  at  once  the 
punishment  of  sensual  life,  and  the  pallia- 
tive which  shall  enable  sensual  life  to  be 
renewed.  Everyone  carries  the  hunger- 
ing and  thirsting  demon  with  him,  and 
lives  his  life  at  his  bidding,  and  we  also 
have  hitherto  done  the  same.  Yet  such 
is  Life's  beneficence,  that  from  every 
storm-tossed  heart  there  gleams  to  us  a 
starry  ray  of  the  Soul. 

The  usurping  self  came  between  us  and 
our  peace.  It  came  between  us  and  our 
work,  claiming  incessantly  that  all  things 
should  be  done  not  for  the  divine  idea  in 
them  but  in  order  to  pay  tribute  to  the 
lusts  of  the  demoniac  self.  This  grasping 
of  self  after  a  reward  foiled  all  our  best 
efforts,  dragging  all  we  did  awry,  and 
cursing  us  with  perpetual  impotence.  We 
are  now  to  learn  what  true  work  is,  un- 
tainted by  the  usurper's  touch.  For  the 


29  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

mission  of  the  Soul  is  work.  The  Soul 
is  no  exile  shivering  on  the  verge  of 
space,  at  home  only  in  some  pale  heaven, 
but  the  lord  who  made  the  worlds,  full 
of  tremendous  power,  and  ready  to  trans- 
mit it  through  our  wills.  We  are  to  handle 
all  the  force  and  substance  of  our  lives, 
holding  nothing  too  gross  or  trivial;  to 
transform  all,  no  longer  guiding  our- 
selves by  hearsay  or  tradition,  but  work- 
ing through  the  instant  intuition  of  the 
Soul.  For  each  of  us,  there  is  a  peculiar 
task  or  art  or  handicraft,  something  we 
can  do  with  surpassing  pleasure  and 
power.  The  Soul  is  to  work  in  us  through 
that  task  first,  writing  its  revelation  in 
our  work.  And  the  highest  inspirations 
in  the  world  are  embodied  in  the  shapes 
of  stone,  or  colored  earths  on  canvas,  or 
mere  black  on  white,  so  responsive  are 
even  these  inert  things  to  the  enkindling 
presence.  Beginning  with  stones  and 
earth,  we  are  to  transform  all  things  in 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  30 

that  light,  ending  only  at  the  threshold 
of  divinity  itself,  which  transforms  us. 

It  is  a  common  shadow  of  fear  that  the 
present  Soul  will  weaken  our  hold  of  hu- 
man life,  and  leave  us  at  the  mercy  of 
fate.  And  this  dread  has  kept  many  back, 
who  longed  to  lift  the  veil.  Yet  it  is  sheer 
superstition.  Only  the  immortal  can  mas- 
ter human  life  and  defy  fate.  Only  those 
who  reinforce  themselves  through  the 
Power  can  handle  even  the  weakest  forces 
firmly,  with  a  will  as  irresistible  as  na- 
ture's might.  For  will  is  the  key  to  all 
nature's  power,  and  in  the  fullness  of 
time  we  shall  unlock  all  her  secrets,  learn- 
ing how  she  made  the  rocks  and  rivers, 
the  stars  and  the  ever-moving  sea.  We 
divine  already  that  there  is  a  way  of 
touching  force  direct,  with  the  will ;  and 
not  mediately  as  we  do,  through  reason 
and  thought  acting  on  substance,  which 
is  embodied  force. 

In  the  days  to  come,  we  are  to  create. 


3i  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

But  at  the  outset,  we  must  learn  through 
our  individual  task,  the  one  thing  we 
can  do  best,  the  work  that  strikes  from 
us  a  flash  of  genius,  a  fire  whose  secret 
is  with  us  alone.  All  men  are  heirs  to 
genius,  to  the  personal  revelation  which 
shall  set  the  stamp  of  original  power  on 
all  they  do.  But  they  must  claim  their  in- 
heritance. This  is  the  key  of  half  the 
perplexities  of  life.  We  are  altogether 
wrong,  we  are  divided  into  rich  and  poor, 
blest  and  unblest,  because  men  copy  in- 
stead of  learning  to  create  each  according 
to  his  genius.  As  they  copy,  they  become 
mere  grains  of  human  sand,  mere  ants  in 
the  human  ant-hill,  and  there  is  small  de- 
mand for  what  they  do,  small  virtue  or 
joy  in  it,  and  small  reward.  But  let  all 
men  become  creative,  and  the  work  of 
each  will  become  indispensable  to  all  and 
rewarded  by  all ;  for  a  pure  and  original 
fire  will  be  in  it,  as  little  to  be  imitated 
as  the  fire  in  the  ruby's  heart,  or  the  dif- 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  32 

ferent  glory  of  the  stars. 

We  imitate  because  we  are  caught  in 
the  panic  of  life,  and  bitten  with  the  crav- 
ing for  possessions  to  shield  us  against 
our  weakness  and  against  fate.  We  are 
smitten  with  the  lust  of  sensation,  and 
hurry  to  gratify  it.  But  we  only  defeat 
our  heart's  desire,  for  what  sensation  can 
vie  with  the  glow  and  the  strength  that 
are  in  us,  while  we  create?  In  the  one 
case  we  try  to  buttress  our  strength  from 
the  ebbing  sensual  world ;  in  the  other, 
we  draw  into  ourselves  the  strength  of 
the  everlasting.  If  it  is  power  we  seek, 
and  keen  delight,  here  is  the  true  way  to 
find  it.  Every  sensual  stimulus  leaves 
us  weakened  and  nearer  to  death.  Every 
act  of  creative  will  makes  us  stronger  and 
brings  us  nearer  to  immortal  life. 

In  the  panic  pursuit  of  sensation,  and 
of  protection  against  fate,  each  man's 
demon  urges  him,  with  terror-stricken 
whispers,  to  struggle  against  all  other 


33  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

men.  Of  ten  parts  of  human  power,  nine 
are  consumed  in  this  struggle,  where  each 
undoes  the  other's  work,  all  pulling  dif- 
ferent ways,  and  neutralizing  each  other's 
strength.  Yet  the  one  part  which  re- 
mains is  enough  to  do  all  the  work  of 
the  world.  Judge  then  what  lavish  excess 
of  power  we  shall  have,  when  we  no 
longer  thwart  but  strengthen  eachother's 
wills.  The  demons  in  us  fight  against  each 
other  like  demons.  But  the  genius  in  each 
can  no  more  hinder  the  genius  in  another 
than  sunbeams  can  clash,  in  the  blue  sea 
of  the  ether. 

What  each  man's  genius  is,  will  be 
whispered  to  him  in  the  silence,  when  he 
has  found  his  way  back  to  the  omnipotent 
Soul.  Thenceforward,  the  genius  will 
work  in  him,  handling  all  things  in  life 
in  a  new  and  masterly  way.  The  perfect 
poet  and  artist,  the  hero  and  saint,  differ 
in  this  only  from  other  men:  that  they 
obey  the  genius  of  valor  and  beauty  who 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  34 

stands  above  them,  yielding  up  the  reins 
to  their  divinity  and  offering  their  wills 
as  workers  for  the  light.  As  there  is 
something  creative  and  unprecedented  in 
the  life  of  every  saint  and  hero,  in  the 
work  of  every  true  poet  and  master  of 
beauty,  so  it  should  be  with  us  all.  Our 
lives  should  be  every  moment  creative, 
bearing  in  all  their  works  that  power  and 
light  which  are  the  sign  manual  of  our 
divinity.  And  from  the  Soul  will  come 
the  measure  of  our  reward,  full,  pressed 
down,  flowing  over. 

We  can  draw  on  that  lavish  measure  of 
reward  for  our  work,  as  soon  as  we  re- 
nounce the  lust  of  reward.  For  that  lust 
pulls  all  our  work  awry,  and  hinders  the 
true  reaction  towards  us,  which  is  de- 
signed and  purposed  by  the  Soul.  As 
the  will  and  inspiration  of  our  true  work 
come  from  the  Soul,  so  does  our  true  re- 
ward, by  an  infallible  law ;  coming  to  us 
from  the  outer  and  natural  world,  where 


35  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

the  same  Soul  creatively  works,  with  the 
certainty  of  harvest  after  seed-time;  and 
the  Soul's  measure  of  reward  is  ten  times 
greater  than  ours.  That  reward  we  may 
reap,  from  the  moment  that  we  begin  to 
do  true  work,  inwardly  from  ourselves, 
instead  of  apeing  the  energies  of  others. 

Our  lives  must  be  rebuilt  on  lines  con- 
formed to  our  present  immortality,  our 
inheritance  from  the  sea  of  life.  We  have 
drawn  the  plan,  and  carried  out  the  build- 
ing, forgetting  the  genius  who  over- 
shadows us.  We  had  built  for  a  mortal. 
We  suddenly  find  the  measure  of  the 
dwelling  too  strait  for  the  immortal. 
We  must  learn  to  build  anew,  in  the  light 
that  glows  beyond  the  heavens. 

This  is  what  the  tide  brings  us,  from 
the  sea  of  Life,  concerning  our  work, 
and  work  is  the  essence  of  the  Soul.  Yet 
all  this  is  as  nothing,  compared  with  the 
unveiling  which  awaits  us,  when  we  come 
with  new  eyes  to  look  on  human  life.  If 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  36 

the  fear-self  thwarted  us  with  nature,  ten 
times  more  did  it  thwart  us  with  man. 
Mortal  has  never  understood  the  simplest 
heart  of  mortal>  nor  ever  shall.  Only  the 
immortal  in  us  can  do  that.  For  in  every 
heart  there  are  immortal  gleams,  and  only 
their  like  can  comprehend  them.  What 
lies  before  us  is  a  vivid  and  inward  reali- 
sation of  other  lives,  those  nearest  to  us 
at  first,  then  the  more  remote;  a  vision 
as  piercing  and  intimate  as  the  love  we 
once  bore  ourselves.  All  men  shall  be 
to  us  as  our  own  souls,  and  our  whole 
aim  will  be,  to  let  the  great  Soul  do  its 
work  in  them,  as  in  us,  for  they  are  our 
other  selves. 

In  the  splendid  hour  of  illumination, 
we  were  alone  in  the  silence  and  dark- 
ness of  the  immortal  world.  Yet  not 
alone,  for  the  inmost  holy  of  holies  was 
full  of  the  souls  of  men.  In  that  dread 
presence  all  are  one,  and  that  one  the 
Soul.  We  bring  that  memory  back,  our 


37  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 


first  intuition  of  human  life,  coming  to 
us  only  with  our  immortality.  Thence- 
forth, we  need  not  go  abroad  to  find  our 
other  selves.  They  come  to  us,  press- 
ing closely  round  our  souls,  in  vision  or 
in  blindness,  in  sadness  or  mirth,  in  love 
or  hate.  But  above  love  or  hate  or  sor- 
row is  the  immemorial  essence  of  our 
common  Soul,  the  holy  presence  of  the 
all-penetrating  Life.  We  must  bow  to 
it  and  obey  it  in  every  relation  of  our 
lives,  dealing  with  the  immortal  in  mor- 
tals, answering  the  powers  and  needs  of 
the  soul  alone.  Mortals  are  at  strife, 
but  the  immortals  in  them  never.  All 
move  in  the  one  Light.  Each  strengthens 
and  fulfills  the  other.  From  the  day  of 
our  vision,  we  shall  learn  to  find  the  im- 
mortal in  everyone ;  with  that  divinity 
alone  our  work  lies.  We  must  seek  for 
each  what  his  own  genius  seeks. 

In  building  our  lives  on  immortal  lines, 
we    have    thrown    away    the  burden  of 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 


anxious  scheming,  laying  the  responsi- 
bility of  our  success  on  the  genius  within, 
the  genius  who  cannot  fail,  for  his  light 
is  drawn  from  the  infinite  Light.  Thus 
we  ease  our  hearts  of  a  weight  they 
have  carried  for  ages,  thereby  tasting  the 
first  fruits  of  liberty  and  peace.  For 
in  the  will  of  the  genius  we  are  free. 

So  when  we  deal  no  longer  with  mor- 
tals for  ever  at  strife,  but  with  the  im- 
mortals above  them  who  are  full  of  peace, 
we  find  another  lightening  of  our  load, 
another  mighty  secret  of  power  and  joy. 
For  one  of  the  bitterest  things  in  our 
lives,  though  we  never  knew  it,  was  the 
perpetually  foiled  longing  to  constrain 
others  to  do  our  bidding,  to  see  with  our 
eyes,  to  act  not  from  their  own  wills  but 
from  ours.  This  desire  is  the  hotbed  of 
hate.  And  hate  is  twice  cursed,  in  the 
victim  and  in  the  tyrant.  We  have  been 
for  ages  full  of  its  two-edged  wounds. 

But  hate  shall  cease  from  henceforth 


39  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

for  evermore.  We  shall  no  longer  seek 
to  constrain  anyone  to  do  our  bidding. 
It  is  not  our  bidding  that  needs  to  be 
done,  but  the  bidding  of  the  genius  in 
each,  the  wise  divinity  within  the  other's 
heart.  When  we  surrender  our  wilful- 
ness  and  bow  to  the  light  in  another,  we 
draw  forth  wonder  and  willing  help.  The 
lord  of  his  inmost  fortress  sees  in  us  a 
friend,  all  doors  are  opened  to  us,  and  we 
are  made  free  of  every  secret  within. 

To  discover  by  subtlest  intuition  the 
word  of  the  genius  to  our  other  selves, 
and,  in  all  dealing  with  them,  to  second 
the  will  of  the  radiance  even  against 
their  mortal  wills,  is  our  second  task,  as 
the  rebuilding  of  our  lives  after  the  im- 
mortal ground  plan  was  the  first.  By 
following  it  in  faith  and  valor,  we  inherit 
boundless  power  amongst  men,  for  in  all 
there  is  the  power  who  fights  for  us, 
whether  they  be  friends  or  enemies  of  our 
mortal  selves. 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  40 

The  third  task  of  our  immortality  is 
yet  greater:  hardly  to  be  spoken  of,  yet 
not  to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  We  are 
to  perfect  our  oneness  with  the  Soul,  to 
break  down  all  barriers,  to  draw  into  our 
wills  the  powers  of  the  Most  High,  not 
for  our  own  purposes,  but  for  everlasting 
ends;  to  draw  ever  towards  the  Light, 
not  for  guidance  along  our  pathway,  but 
for  the  Light.  We  are  to  find  the  way 
to  the  immortal  sea,  for  thither  are  we 
to  return. 

For  when  the  last  word  is  said,  we  are 
finally  concerned,  not  with  the  works  of 
our  wills,  nor  with  our  other  selves,  but 
with  the  Soul  that  gives  to  them  their  life. 
Our  lives  and  our  other  selves  concern 
us  because  they  are  of  the  Soul.  But 
there  is  something  greater  and  more 
august  than  these  sunbeams  of  the  Soul, 
however  radiant  they  are  and  lovely. 
There  is  the  Soul  itself,  the  infinite,  undi- 
vided Life.  Thither  at  last  shall  our 


4i  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

footsteps  tend.  Thither  when  our  works 
are  done,  when  we  have  come  to  perfect 
oneness  with  our  other  selves,  so  that 
the  radiance  flows  unimpeded  through  us 
all :  thither  shall  we  enter  in,  losing  our- 
selves and  them  and  all  things,  to  find 
them  again  in  the  infinite  Soul. 


SECOND  PART. 

DRAMA  OF  THE  MYSTERIES. 
BRIHAD  ARANYAKA  UPANISHAD  :  iv,  3-4. 


PROLOGUE. 

To  Janaka  king  of  the  Videhas  came 
Yajnavalkya,  determined  not  to  speak 
openly  with  the  king.  But  when  Janaka 
king  of  the  Videhas  and  Yajnavalkya 
debated  together  at  the  offering  of  the 
holy  fire,  Yajnavalkya  offered  the  king  a 
wish.  The  king  chose :  to  ask  questions 
according  to  his  desire.  Yajnavalkya 
assented,  and  the  king  first  asked: 

Yajnavalkya,  what  is  the  light  of  the 
Spirit  of  man? 

The  sun  is  his  light,  O  king;  he 
answered.  With  the  sun  as  his  light  he 
rests,  goes  forth,  does  his  work,  and  re- 
turns. 

This  is  so  in  truth,  Yajnavalkya.  But 
when  the  sun  is  set,  Yajnavalkya,  what  is 
then  the  light  of  the  Spirit  of  man  ? 

The  moon  then  becomes  his  light;  he 
answered.  With  the  moon  as  his  light 
he  rests,  goes  forth,  does  his  work,  and 
returns. 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  46 

This  is  so  in  truth,  Yajnavalkya.  But 
when  the  sun  is  set,  Yajnavalkya,  and 
the  moon  is  also  set,  what  is  then  the 
light  of  the  Spirit  of  man? 

Fire  then  becomes  his  light,  he 
answered.  With  fire  as  his  light  he  rests, 
goes  forth,  does  his  work,  and  returns. 

This  is  so  in  truth,  Yajnavalkya.  But 
when  the  sun  is  set,  Yajnavalkya,  and 
the  moon  is  also  set,  and  the  fire  sinks 
down,  what  is  then  the  light  of  the  Spirit 
of  man? 

Voice  then  becomes  his  light;  he 
answered.  With  voice  as  his  light  he 
rests,  goes  forth,  does  his  work,  and  re- 
turns. Therefore  in  truth,  O  king,  when 
a  man  cannot  distinguish  even  his  own 
hand,  where  a  voice  sounds,  thither  he 
approaches. 

This  is  so  in  truth,  Yajnavalkya.  But 
when  the  sun  is  set,  Yajnavalkya,  and 
the  moon  is  also  set,  and  the  fire  sinks 
down,  and  the  voice  is  stilled,  what  is 


47  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 


then  the  light  of  the  Spirit  of  man  ? 

The  Soul  then  becomes  his  light,  he 
answered.  With  the  Soul  as  his  light 
he  rests,  goes  forth,  does  his  work,  and 
returns. 

WAKING  AND  DREAM. 

What  is  the  Soul? 

It  is  the  Consciousness  in  the  life- 
powers.  It  is  the  Light  within  the  heart. 
This  Spirit  of  man  wanders  through  both 
worlds,  yet  remains  unchanged.  He 
seems  only  to  be  wrapt  in  imaginings. 
He  seems  only  to  revel  in  delights. 

When  he  enters  into  rest,  the  Spirit 
of  man  rises  above  this  world  and  all 
things  subject  to  death.  For  when  the 
Spirit  of  man  comes  to  birth  and  enters 
a  body,  he  goes  forth  entangled  in  evils. 
But  rising  up  at  death,  he  puts  all  evils 
away. 

The  Spirit  of  man  has  two  dwelling- 
places  :  both  this  world,  and  the  other 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  48 

world.  The  borderland  between  them 
is  the  third,  the  land  of  dreams.  While 
he  lingers  in  the  borderland,  the  Spirit 
of  man  beholds  both  his  dwellings:  both 
this  world  and  the  other  world.  And 
according  as  his  advance  is  in  the  other 
world,  gaining  that  advance  the  Spirit  of 
man  sees  evils  or  delights. 

When  the  Spirit  of  man  enters  into 
rest,  drawing  his  material  from  this  all- 
containing  world,  felling  the  wood  him- 
self and  himself  building  the  dwelling, 
the  Spirit  of  man  enters  into  dream, 
through  his  own  shining,  through  his 
own  light.  Thus  does  the  Spirit  of  man 
become  his  own  light. 

There  are  no  chariots  there,  nor  steeds 
for  chariots,  nor  roadways.  The  Spirit 
of  man  makes  himself  chariots,  steeds  for 
chariots  and  roadways.  Nor  are  any  de- 
lights there,  nor  joys  and  rejoicings.  The 
Spirit  of  man  makes  for  himself  delights 
and  joys  and  rejoicings.  There  are  no 


49  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

lotus  ponds  there,  nor  lakes  and  rivers. 
The  Spirit  of  man  makes  for  himself 
lotus  ponds,  lakes  and  rivers.  For  the 
Spirit  of  man  is  Creator. 

And  there  are  these  verses : 

Leaving  the  bodily  world  through 
the  door  of  dream,  the  sleepless  Spirit 
views  the  sleeping  powers.  Then 
clothed  in  radiance,  returns  to  his  own 
home,  the  gold-gleaming  Genius,  swan 
of  everlasting. 

Guarding  the  nest  beneath  through 
the  life-breath,  the  Spirit  of  man  rises 
immortal  above  the  nest.  He  soars 
immortal  according  to  his  desire,  the 
gold-gleaming  Genius,  swan  of  ever- 
lasting. 

Soaring  upward  and  downward  in 
dreamland,  the  god  makes  manifold 
forms;  now  laughing  and  rejoicing 
with  fair  beauties,  now  beholding  ter- 
rible things. 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE.  5° 

They  see  his  pleasure-ground,  but  him 
sees  no  one.  Thus  goes  the  saying: 
Let  none  awake  him  that  sleeps ;  for  he 
is  hard  to  heal,  if  the  soul  returns  not  to 
him. 

They  also  say  that  dream  is  a  province 
of  waking.  For  whatever  he  sees  while 
awake,  the  same  he  sees  in  dream.  Thus 
the  Spirit  of  man  becomes  his  own  light. 

And  when  he  has  taken  his  ease  in  the 
resting-place  of  dream,  moving  to  and 
fro  and  beholding  good  and  evil,  the 
Spirit  of  man  returns  again  by  the  same 
path,  hurrying  back  to  his  former  dwell- 
ing-place in  the  world  of  waking.  But 
whatever  the  Spirit  of  man  may  behold 
there,  returns  not  after  him,  for  the  Spirit 
of  man  is  free,  and  nought  adheres  to 
the  Spirit. 

This  is  so  in  truth,  Yajnavalkya.  I 
give  a  thousand  cattle  to  the  teacher.  But 
tell  me  the  higher  wisdom  that  makes  for 
liberation. 


5i  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

DREAMLESSNESS. 

And  when  he  has  taken  his  pleasure  in 
the  waking  world,  moving  to  and  fro  and 
beholding  good  and  evil,  the  Spirit  of 
man  returns  again  by  the  same  path, 
hurrying  back  to  dreamland. 

As  a  great  fish  swims  along  one  bank 
of  the  river,  and  then  along  the  other 
bank,  first  the  eastern  bank,  and  then  the 
western,  so  the  Spirit  of  man  moves 
through  both  worlds,  the  waking  world 
and  the  dream  world. 

Then  as  a  falcon  or  an  eagle,  flying 
to  and  fro  in  the  open  sky  and  growing 
weary,  folds  his  wings  and  sinks  to  rest, 
so  of  a  truth  the  Spirit  of  man  hastens 
to  that  world  where,  finding  rest,  he  de- 
sires no  desire  and  dreams  no  dream. 

And  whatever  he  has  dreamed,  as  that 
he  was  slain  or  oppressed,  crushed  by  an 
elephant  or  fallen  into  an  abyss,  or  what- 
ever fear  he  beheld  in  the  waking  world, 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  52 

he  knows  now  that  it  was  from  unwis- 
dom. Like  a  god,  like  a  king,  he  knows 
he  is  the  All.  This  is  his  highest  world. 

This  is  his  highest  joy.  He  has  passed 
beyond  all  evil.  This  is  his  fearless  form. 
And  as  one  who  is  wrapt  in  the  arms  of 
the  beloved,  knows  nought  of  what  is 
without  or  within,  so  the  Spirit  of  man 
wrapt  round  by  the  Soul  of  Inspiration, 
knows  nought  of  what  is  without  or  with- 
in. This  is  his  perfect  being.  He  has 
won  his  desire.  The  Soul  is  his  desire. 
He  is  beyond  desire.  He  has  left  sor- 
row behind.  • 

Here  the  father  is  father  no  more ;  nor 
the  mother  a  mother;  nor  the  worlds, 
worlds ;  here  the  scriptures  are  no  longer 
scriptures ;  the  thief  is  a  thief  no  more ; 
nor  the  murderer  a  murderer;  nor  the 
outcast  an  outcast;  nor  the  baseborn, 
baseborn ;  the  pilgrim  is  a  pilgrim  no 
longer,  nor  the  saint  a  saint.  For  the 
Spirit  of  man  is  not  followed  by  good, 


53  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

he  is  not  followed  by  evil  For  he  has 
crossed  over  all  the  sorrows  of  the  heart. 

The  Spirit  sees  not ;  yet  seeing  not,  he 
sees.  For  the  energy  that  dwelt  in  sight 
cannot  cease,  because  it  is  everlasting. 
But  there  is  no  other  besides  the  Spirit, 
or  separate  from  him,  for  him  to  see. 

The  Spirit  smells  not;  yet  smelling 
not,  he  smells.  For  the  energy  that 
dwelt  in  the  power  of  smell  cannot  cease, 
beceause  it  is  everlasting.  But  there  is 
nothing  else  besides  the  Spirit,  or  separ- 
ate from  him,  for  him  to  smell. 

The  Spirit  tastes  not;  yet  tasting  not, 
he  tastes.  For  the  energy  that  dwelt  in 
taste  cannot  cease,  because  it  is  everlast- 
ing. But  there  is  nothing  else  besides 
the  Spirit,  or  separate  from  him,  for  him 
to  taste. 

The  Spirit  speaks  not;  yet  speaking 
not,  he  speaks.  For  the  energy  that 
dwelt  in  speech  cannot  cease,  because  it 
is  everlasting.  But  there  is  nothing  else 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE,  54 

besides  the  Spirit,  or  separate  from  him, 
for  him  to  speak  to. 

The  Spirit  hears  not;  yet  hearing  not, 
he  hears.  For  the  energy  that  dwelt  in 
hearing  cannot  cease,  because  it  is  ever- 
lasting. But  there  nothing  else  besides 
the  Spirit,  or  separate  from  him,  for  him 
to  hear. 

The  Spirit  thinks  not ;  yet  thinking  not, 
he  thinks.  For  the  energy  that  dwelt  in 
thinking  cannot  cease,  because  it  is  ever- 
lasting. But  there  is  nothing  else  be- 
sides the  Spirit,  or  separate  from  him, 
for  him  to  think  of. 

The  Spirit  touches  not;  yet  touching 
not,  he  touches.  For  the  energy  that 
dwelt  in  touch  cannot  cease,  because  it  is 
everlasting.  But  there  is  nothing  else  be- 
sides the  Spirit,  or  separate  from  him, 
for  him  to  touch. 

The  Spirit  knows  not;  yet  knowing 
not,  he  knows.  For  the  energy  that 
dwelt  in  knowing  cannot  cease,  because 


55  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

it  is  everlasting.  But  there  is  nothing 
else  besides  the  Spirit,  or  separate  from 
him,  for  him  to  know. 

THE  MEASURE  OF  JOY. 

For  only  where  there  is  separation  may 
one  see  another,  may  one  taste  another, 
may  one  speak  to  another,  may  one  hear 
another,  may  one  think  of  another,  may 
one  touch  another,  may  one  know 
another.  But  the  one  Seer  is  undivided, 
like  pure  water.  This,  O  king,  is  the 
world  of  the  Eternal.  This  is  the  high- 
est path.  This  is  the  highest  treasure. 
This  is  the  highest  world.  This  is  the 
highest  bliss.  All  beings  live  on  the 
fragments  of  this  bliss. 

He  who  amongst  men  is  rich  and 
happy,  a  lord  well  endowed  with  all 
wealth,  this  is  the  highest  bliss  of  man- 
kind. But  a  hundredfold  greater  than 
the  bliss  of  man  is  the  bliss  of  the  de- 
parted who  have  won  paradise.  A  hun- 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  56 

dredfold  greater  than  the  bliss  of  the  de- 
parted who  have  won  paradise  is  the  bliss 
of  the  world  of  seraphs.  A  hundredfold 
greater  than  the  bliss  of  the  world  of 
seraphs  is  the  bliss  of  the  gods  grown 
divine  through  righteousness.  A  hun- 
dredfold greater  than  the  bliss  of  the 
gods  grown  divine  through  righteous- 
ness is  the  bliss  of  the  gods  divine  by 
birth,  and  of  him  who  has  heard,  who 
has  risen  from  darkness,  who  is  not 
stricken  by  desire.  A  hundredfold  greater 
than  the  bliss  of  the  gods  divine  by  birth 
is  the  bliss  of  the  world  of  the  creators, 
and  of  him  who  has  heard,  who  has  risen 
from  darkness,  who  is  not  stricken  by 
desire.  A  hundredfold  greater  than  the 
bliss  of  the  world  of  the  creators  is  the 
bliss  of  the  world  of  the  Eternal,  and  of 
him  who  has  heard,  who  has  risen  from 
darkness,  who  is  not  stricken  by  desire. 
This  is  the  highest  bliss.  This,  O  king, 
is  the  world  of  the  Eternal. 


57  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

Thus  spoke  Yajnavalkya. 

And  he  replied:  I  give  the  teacher  a 
thousand  cattle.  But  tell  me  the  higher 
wisdom  that  makes  for  liberation. 

And  Yajnavalkya  feared,  thinking :  the 
wise  king  has  cut  me  off  from  all  retreat. 

DEATH. 

And  when  he  has  taken  his  pleasure  in 
dreamland,  moving  to  and  fro  and  be- 
holding good  and  evil,  the  Spirit  of  man 
returns  again  by  the  same  path,  hurrying 
back  to  his  former  dwelling-place  in  the 
world  of  waking. 

Then  as  a  wagon  heavy-laden  might 
go  halting  and  creaking,  so  the  embodied 
soul  goes  halting,  overburdened  by  the 
Soul  of  Inspiration  when  it  has  gone  so 
far  that  a  man  is  giving  up  the  ghost. 

When  he  falls  into  weakness,  whether 
it  be  through  old-age  or  sickness  he  falls 
into  weakness,  then  like  as  a  mango  or 
the  fruit  of  the  wave-leafed  fig  or  of  the 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  58 

holy  fig-tree  is  loosened  from  its  stem,  so 
the  Spirit  of  man  is  loosed  from  these 
bodily  members,  and  returns  again  by  the 
same  pathway  to  its  former  dwelling- 
place  in  the  Life. 

Then  like  as  when  the  king  is  coming 
forth,  the  nobles,  officers,  charioteers  and 
magistrates  make  ready  to  serve  him 
with  food  and  drink  and  shelter,  saying: 
the  king  is  coming  forth,  the  king  is  at 
hand ;  so  all  the  powers  make  ready  to 
wait  on  the  soul,  saying :  the  soul  is  com- 
ing forth,  the  soul  is  at  hand. 

And  like  as  when  the  king  will  go 
forth,  the  nobles,  officers,  charioteers  and 
magistrates  gather  about  him;  so  verily 
at  the  time  of  the  end  all  the  life-powers 
gather  round  the  soul,  when  it  has  gone 
so  far  that  a  man  is  giving  up  the  ghost. 

When  he  falls  into  a  swoon,  as  though 
he  had  lost  his  senses,  the  life-powers  are 
gathering  in  round  the  soul ;  and  the  soul, 
taking  them  up  together  in  their  radiant 


59  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

substance,  enters  with  them  into  the  inner 
heart. 

When  the  power  that  dwells  in  sight 
is  sent  forwards  and  outwards,  he  be- 
holds the  visible  world ;  but  now  the  pow- 
ers are  merged  into  one,  and  they  say: 
he  no  longer  sees.  His  powers  are 
merged  into  one,  and  they  say:  he  no 
longer  smells.  His  powers  are  merged 
into  one,  and  they  say:  he  no  longer 
tastes.  His  powers  are  merged  into  one, 
and  they  say :  he  no  longer  speaks.  His 
powers  are  merged  into  one,  and  they 
say:  he  no  longer  hears.  His  powers 
are  merged  into  one,  and  they  say:  he 
no  longer  thinks.  His  powers  are  merged 
into  one,  and  they  say:  he  no  longer 
touches.  His  powers  are  merged  into 
one,  and  they  say:  he  no  longer  knows. 

PARADISE. 

Then  the  point  of  the  heart  grows  lum- 
inous, and  when  it  has  grown  luminous, 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  60 

it  lights  the  soul  upon  its  way :  from  the 
head  or  from  the  eye  or  from  other  parts 
of  the  body.  And  as  the  soul  rises  up- 
wards the  life-breath  rises  upwards  with 
it;  and  as  the  life-breath  rises  upwards 
with  it,  the  powers  rise  up  with  the  life- 
breath.  The  soul  becomes  conscious 
and  enters  into  Consciousness. 

Then  his  wisdom  and  works  take  him 
by  the  hand,  and  the  knowledge  gained 
of  old.  Then  as  a  caterpillar  when  it 
comes  to  the  end  of  a  leaf,  reaching  forth 
to  another  foothold,  draws  itself  over  to 
it,  so  the  soul,  leaving  the  body,  and  put- 
ting off  unwisdom,  reaching  another 
foothold  there,  draws  itself  over  to  it. 

As  a  worker  in  gold,  taking  an  orna- 
ment, molds  it  to  another  form  newer 
and  fairer;  so  in  truth  the  soul,  leaving 
the  body  here,  and  putting  off  unwisdom, 
makes  for  itself  another  form  newer  and 
fairer:  a  form  like  the  forms  of  de- 
parted souls,  or  of  the  seraphs,  or  of  the 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 


gods,  or  of  the  creators,  or  of  the  Eternal, 
or  of  other  beings. 

The  soul  of  man  is  the  Eternal.  It  is 
made  of  consciousness,  it  is  made  of  feel- 
ing, it  is  made  of  life,  it  is  made  of  vision, 
is  it  made  of  hearing;  it  is  made  of  the 
earth,  it  is  made  of  the  waters,  it  is  made 
of  the  air,  it  is  made  of  the  ether,  it  is 
made  of  the  radiance  and  what  is  beyond 
the  radiance;  it  is  made  of  desire  and 
what  is  beyond  desire,  it  is  made  of  wrath 
and  what  is  beyond  wrath,  it  is  made  of 
the  law  and  what  is  beyond  the  law;  it 
is  made  of  the  All.  The  soul  is  made 
of  this  world  and  of  the  other  world. 

REBIRTH. 

According  as  were  his  works  and  walk 
in  life,  so  he  becomes.  He  that  does 
righteously  becomes  righteous.  He  that 
does  evil  becomes  evil.  He  becomes 
holy  through  holy  works  and  evil 
through  evil. 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  62 

As  they  said  of  old:  Man  verily  is 
formed  of  desire,  as  his  desire  is,  so  is 
his  will ;  as  his  will  is,  so  he  works ;  and 
whatever  work  he  does,  in  the  likeness  of 
it  he  grows. 

There  is  this  verse: 

Through  his  past  works  he  shall 
return  once  more  to  birth,  entering 
whatever  form  his  heart  is  set  on. 
When  he  has  received  full  measure  of 
reward  in  paradise  for  the  works  he 
did,  from  that  world  he  returns  again 
to  this,  the  world  of  works. 

LIBERATION. 

Thus  far  of  him  who  is  under  desire. 
Now  as  to  him  who  is  free  from  desire, 
who  is  beyond  desire,  who  has  gained 
his  desire,  for  whom  the  Soul  is  his  de- 
sire. From  him  the  life-powers  do  not 
depart.  Growing  one  with  the  Eternal, 
he  enters  into  the  Eternal. 

There  is  this  verse: 


63  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

When  all  desires  that  were  hid  in 
the  heart  are  let  go,  the  mortal  becomes 
immortal,  and  reaches  the  Eternal. 
And  like  as  the  slough  of  a  snake  lies 
lifeless,  cast  forth  upon  an  ant-hill,   so 
lies  his  body,  when  the  Spirit  of  man 
rises  up  bodiless  and  immortal,  as  the 
Life,  as  the  Eternal,  as  the  Radiance. 

I  give  a  thousand  cattle  to  the  teacher : 
thus  spoke  Janaka  king  of  the  Videhas. 
There  are  these  verses : 

The  small  old  path  that  stretches  far 
away,  has  been  found  and  followed  by 
me.  By  it  go  the  Seers  who  know 
the  Eternal,  rising  up  from  this  world 
to  the  heavenly  world. 

It  is  adorned  with  white  and  blue, 
orange  and  gold  and  red.  This  is  the 
path  of  the  Eternal,  the  path  of  the 
saints,  the  sages,  the  seers  in  their  radi- 
ance. 

Blind  darkness  they  enter  who  wor- 
ship unwisdom.  They  go,  as  it  were, 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  64 

to  greater  darkness  who  exult  in  wis- 
dom. 

Joyless  verily  are  those  worlds,  by 
blind  darkness  hid — thither  at  death 
go  those  who  have  not  found  wisdom, 
whose  souls  have  not  awakened  to  the 
light. 

Who  knows  the  Soul,  and  see  him- 
self as  it — what  should  he  long  for,  or 
desiring  what  should  he  fret  for  the 
fever  of  life? 

By  whom  the  awakened  Soul  is 
known  while  he  dwells  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  the  world,  he  is  creator  of  all 
and  maker  of  all ;  his  is  the  world,  for 
he  is  the  world. 

Even  here  in  the  world  have  we 
reached  wisdom;  without  wisdom, 
great  were  thy  loss.  They  who  are 
illumined,  become  immortal.  Others 
enter  into  sorrow. 

When  a  man  gains  the  vision  of  the 
godlike  Soul,  the  lord  of  what  has  been 


6s  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

and  what  shall  be,  he  fears  no  more. 

At  whose  feet  rolls  the  circling  year 
with  all  its  days,  him  the  gods  wor- 
ship as  the  one,  the  light  of  lights,  the 
immortal  life. 

In  whom  the  five  hierarchies  of  be- 
ing and  the  ether  are  set  firm,  him  I 
know  to  be  the  Soul.  And  knowing 
that  deathless  Eternal,  I  too  am  im- 
mortal. 

They  who  know  the  life  of  life,  eye 
of  the  eye,  the  ear's  ear,  heart  of  the 
heart,  have  found  that  eternal  Ancient, 
the  Most  High. 

This  is  to  be  understood  by  the 
heart:  there  is  no  separateness  at  all. 
He  goes  from  death  to  death  who  be- 
holds separateness. 

This  immeasurable  and  unchanging 
Being  is  to  be  beheld  as  the  One.  The 
stainless  Soul  is  higher  than  the  heav- 
ens, mighty  and  sure. 

Let  the  sage,  the   follower  of  the 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  66 

Eternal,  knowing  this,  strive  to  behold 
it  in  vision.  Let  him  not  meditate 
on  many  words,  for  words  are  weari- 
ness. 

This  is  the  mighty  Soul  unborn,  who 
is  Consciousness  among  the  life-powers. 
This  is  the  heaven  in  the  heart  within, 
where  rests  the  ruler  of  all,  master  of 
all,  lord  of  all.  He  grows  not  greater 
through  good  works,  nor  less  through 
evil.  He  is  lord  of  all,  overlord  of  be- 
ings, shepherd  of  all  beings.  He  is  the 
bridge  that  holds  the  worlds  apart,  lest 
they  should  flow  together.  This  is  he 
whom  the  followers  of  the  Eternal  seek 
to  know  through  their  scriptures,  sacri- 
fices, gifts  and  penances,  through  ceas- 
ing from  evil  towards  others.  He  who 
knows  this  becomes  a  sage.  This  is  the 
goal  in  search  of  which  pilgrims  go  forth 
on  pilgrimages. 

Knowing  Him,  the  men  of  old  desired 
not  offspring.  What  should  we  do  with 


67  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

offspring,  they  said,  since  ours  is  the  Soul, 
the  All?  They  became  saints,  ceasing 
from  the  desire  of  offspring,  the  desire  of 
the  world,  the  desire  of  wealth.  For  the 
desire  of  offspring  is  a  desire  for  wealth, 
and  the  desire  of  wealth  is  a  desire  for 
the  world.  For  these  are  both  desires. 
But  the  Soul  is  not  that,  not  that.  It  is 
incomprehensible,  for  it  cannot  be  com- 
prehended ;  it  is  imperishable,  for  it  passes 
not  away ;  nought  adheres  to  it,  for  it  is 
free;  the  Soul  is  not  bound,  fears  not, 
suffers  not. 

For  to  him  who  knows,  neither  crosses 
over — the  evil  he  does  nor  the  good.  He 
passes  both ;  things  done  or  undone  afflict 
him  not. 

This  is  declared  in  the  holy  verse: 

This  is  the  lasting  might  of  him  who 
knows  the  Eternal,  that  he  grows  not 
greater  nor  less  through  deeds.  Let 
him  find  the  pathway  of  the  Soul.  Find- 
ing it,  he  is  not  stained  by  evil. 


THE  SONG  OF  LIFE  68 

He  who  knows  is  therefore  full  of 
peace,  lord  of  himself;  he  has  ceased 
from  false  gods,  he  is  full  of  endurance, 
he  intends  his  will. 

In  his  soul  he  beholds  the  Soul.  He 
beholds  all  things  in  the  Soul.  Nor  does 
evil  reach  him;  he  passes  all  evil.  He 
is  free  from  evil,  free  from  stain,  free 
from  doubt,  a  knower  of  the  Eternal. 

EPILOGUE. 

This  is  the  world  of  the  Eternal,  O 
king.  Thus  spoke  Yajnavalkya. 

I  give  the  Master  my  Videhas  and  my- 
self also  as  thy  servant ;  said  the  king. 

This  mighty  Soul  unborn  is  the  eater 
of  the  food  of  all  life.  The  Soul  is  the 
giver  of  treasure.  He  finds  the  treas- 
ure, who  knows  this. 

This  mighty  Soul  unborn  grows  not 
old,  nor  dies,  for  the  Soul  is  immortal 
and  fearless.  The  Soul  is  the  fearless 
Eternal.  He  grows  one  with  the  Eter- 


69  THE  SONG  OF  LIFE 

nal,  the  fearless  Eternal,  who  knows  this. 


THE  END. 


FLUSHING 
N.   Y. 


YB  22449 


